Simply Soaps settles into a new store space in Oak Bluffs

A unique hobby turned into a small business has now brought Beth Serusa into a store space in Oak Bluffs. Last weekend, Ms. Serusa opened Simply Soaps – A Vineyard Bath Collection within Made Here on the Vineyard on Circuit Avenue.

She has participated in the Artisans festival, but with this permanenet space, she plans on staying open year-round, albeit January through March may be weekends only.

She produces handmade soaps and body lotion with natural ingredients.

Saponification, a soap-making process that takes weeks, requires lye, water and fats. When Ms. Serusa makes her loaves of soap, for fats, she uses healthier ingredients, such as olive oil, shay butter and soy oil.

“Commercial soaps use petroleum products,” she said. “And the chemical strips your skin, but with natural soap, you don’t need to use lotion after you wash your hands because the idea is that your skin gets oil replenished from the soap.”

She also adds various fragrances. Vanilla, coconut, ginger coconut almond, oatmeal milk and honey, lilac, cucumber melon, lavender and honey suckle represent just a small sampling of the options available.

In December, she’s moving into the front room in Made Here where she can display her products at the front window.

Even though the economy may not be ideal for small businesses right now, Ms. Serusa said, “I’m hopeful. It’s one of those things if I never tried I would never know. You just have to put that foot out there and give it a shot.”